Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- China Says It Has Taken U.S. Semiconductor Rules to WTO — Beijing challenges Washington’s export controls, considering them trade protectionism.
- Hong Kong Scraps Covid-19 Entry Restrictions in Latest Reopening Move — City leader says arrivals will no longer face three-day exclusion from bars and restaurants; movement-tracking app to be dropped.
- Indian and Chinese Forces Clash on Border, Indian Army Says — Border skirmish is the first since a deadly confrontation in 2020 that has chilled ties between the rivals.
- Hong Kong Court Halts Jimmy Lai’s Trial Until September 2023 — An uncertain wait on a ruling from Beijing has forced a nine-month delay in the pro-democracy media tycoon’s national security trial.
- India Defense Minister Briefs Lawmakers Over Fresh Border Clash With China — Minister tells Parliament that troops stand ready to safeguard the country’s territorial integrity.
- In U.S. Bid to Blunt China’s Pacific Sway, Postal Service Has a Say — Talks to renew agreements with three Pacific island allies face resistance from USPS.
- The Dangerous Downward Spiral of U.S.-China Relations — For six years, neither side has shown a serious interest in resolving differences through diplomacy.
- Opinion: Google Takes a Stand Over Hong Kong’s Protest Anthem — The company isn’t bowing to demands to favor China’s national anthem instead.
The Financial Times
- Hong Kong ditches Covid tracing app and ban on travellers visiting bars — Chinese territory has gradually eased restrictions that have hammered the financial hub’s economy.
- Pharma and funeral stocks rally as investors ride China’s Covid exit wave — Chinese breweries and airlines also back in vogue as lockdowns lifted.
- China hits back at US chip sanctions with WTO dispute — Beijing says move necessary to defend ‘legitimate rights’ in response to Washington’s semiconductor controls.
- European wind turbine manufacturers face tough 2023 — Competition from China is growing and inflation has pushed up the price of key raw materials.
- China sought reopening advice from Hong Kong before zero-Covid protests — Public health experts travelled to Beijing to discuss possible fallout of easing restrictions.
- Indian and Chinese troops clash on disputed border — First confrontation since 2020 highlights continuing tensions.
The New York Times
- Indian and Chinese Soldiers Again Trade Blows at Disputed Border — Tensions are still simmering two years after a deadly confrontation over a remote region each country claims as its own.
- As Covid Spreads Fast in China, Beijing Isn’t in Lockdown. But It Feels Like It. — Almost no one is venturing out even after an easing of pandemic measures. Cold and flu medicines are scarce, but food supplies appear adequate.
- Why Some Scientists Choose China’s Space Station for Research — A project led by researchers from a Swiss university highlights China’s ambition to make the Tiangong outpost broadly available for science.
- China Maps Out Plans to Put Astronauts on the Moon and on Mars — Chinese officials at a desert rocket base described plans for their new space station and for reusable rockets, as well as travel beyond near-Earth orbit.
- In FTX Collapse, Binance Sees a Chance to Become the New Face of Crypto — Sam Bankman-Fried and Changpeng Zhao were archrivals. With FTX gone, Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, is trying to step into the void.
Caixin
- China Unplugs Travel Tracking System as Covid Curbs Ease — China unwound a mobile itinerary tracking system that has been in place for 34 months for virus control as the country continues dismantling restrictions and shifting away from the long-held “zero-Covid” policy.
- Beijing Beefs Up Health Care System to Handle Covid Surge — Beijing is building more fever clinics at hospitals and primary care facilities as part of efforts to cope with a spike in Covid infections, as its medical infrastructure comes under increasing strain after a rapid easing of virus control measures.
- China Allows Online Sales of Pfizer Covid Pill Paxlovid — Covid patients in China can now buy U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.’s antiviral drug Paxlovid online after presenting a positive test result.
South China Morning Post
- Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai’s trial further adjourned to September 2023, pending possible Beijing legal review — Apple Daily founder returned before three judges on Tuesday, as prosecutors sought second postponement.
- China urges Seoul to oppose US controls on chip exports, resist ‘unilateral bullying’ — The comments come as Beijing files complaints to WTO challenging Washington’s restrictions on semiconductor sales to Chinese companies
- Former editor-in-chief of now-defunct Stand News website secures bail in Hong Kong after nearly a year in custody pending sedition trial — Defence argues Chung’s wife also in custody in Apple Daily case on charges of collusion with foreign forces, therefore defendant is not a flight risk.
Nikkei Asia
- Hong Kong under pressure to use standard Chinese language – Over half of Hong Kongers now can speak Mandarin as economic dependence grows.
- Blinken readies for first China trip in new year — Senior U.S. officials lay groundwork for milestone visit by secretary of state.
Bloomberg
- Japan to Join US Effort to Tighten Chip Exports to China — Japan and the Netherlands have agreed in principle to join the US in tightening controls over the export of advanced chipmaking machinery to China, a potentially debilitating blow to Beijing’s technology ambitions.
- China Postpones Key Economic Policy Meeting Due to Covid Spike — China is delaying a closely watched economic policy meeting due to start this week after Covid infections surged in Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter.
- China Property Tycoon Zhang Li Arrested on US Bribery Charge — The co-founder of Chinese property developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd., Zhang Li, is wanted in the US over allegations he provided kickbacks to secure contracts in California.
- Hong Kong to ‘Use All Means’ Against Google Over National Anthem — Hong Kong has strongly criticized Alphabet Inc.’s Google for failing to ensure the city’s correct national anthem features prominently on its search page.
Reuters
- Exclusive: China readying $143 billion package for its chip firms in face of U.S. curbs — China is working on a more than 1 trillion yuan ($143 billion) support package for its semiconductor industry, three sources said, in a major step towards self sufficiency in chips and to counter U.S. moves aimed at slowing its technological advances.
- China reportedly delays key economic meeting amid signs of surging infections — Chinese leaders have reportedly delayed a key economic policy meeting amid growing signs that COVID-19 infections are surging nearly a week after Beijing jettisoned some of the world’s toughest restrictions.
Other Publications
- OCCRP: Pacific Gambit: Inside the Chinese Communist Party and Triad Push into Palau — The tiny Pacific nation of Palau is a key hotspot in the growing rivalry between China and the West. Organized criminals with links to the Chinese Communist Party are trying to find a way in — and many in the local elite have welcomed them.
- The Economist: East Asia’s big beasts are getting on badly — Security gripes are increasingly undermining Chinese-Japanese economic ties.
- The Economist: Aaron Friedberg says the West should abandon efforts to integrate a hostile, revisionist China — Democracies must recreate a strong liberal bloc and resist authoritarian aggression, says the Princeton professor.
